Braille Text

Braille does not imply any specific language and should not be use as such at UVL. Rather, the appropriate language tag(s) or attribute(s) should also be noted in the entry.

Use of this tag does not automatically imply the game makes use of refreshable braille displays, braille keyboards, or braille embossers. Or that it is even intended to be used by visually impaired people.

Braille text is a variant on binary notation being composed of raised surfaces (dots/bumps) on a flat medium. 6 dots standard (2x3), 8 dots (2x4) when required. Originally, Braille was indirectly equivalent to Latin script, 26 letters, but used 19th century French letters and letter ordering (no "W" for example). It was popularized by the English Braille variant. Being Latinic, it is somewhat extendable to Greek and Russian. It was later extended to International Braille but local variants still persist (such as German, English, Arabic, and Asian variants) and early influences have shaped its modern form, such as French letter ordering. Note though, that it was the French who first took steps to correct shortcomings and internationalize braille in 1878. Local variants often involve contractions using the other 38 unused notations. 19th century American Braille assigned ordered binary patterns to letters based on frequency of their use. Algerian Braille is an early branch with later efforts to render it obsolete in favor of Arabic Braille which is generally compatible with International Braille via Romanization but also uses non-Romanized general and local variants such as Urdu and Persian. Asian Braille variants use more abstract assignments to syllable composition. The same character stands for different letters depending on where it is positioned. Academic texts often require 8 dots using Braille ASCII as a common type. All Braille is read left-to-right. The bit order is vertical, 1 on the upper left, 3 on the lower left, and bits 3 to 6 on the right column. Braille is sometimes visually numerically described by noting the position of dots rather than the binary notation (100110, the letter D or the number 4, would be noted as 1-4-5). Braille is designed to do as much as possible within the 6 bit cell. The question mark also serves as an opening quote mark for example. And the same notation for letters are used for numbers. Using the 3-4-5-6 indicates the next letter should considered as a number. Also there is a significant use of contractions to save time and space creating a type of shorthand text. For example, one symbol for "and" and one for "the" so the word hand or the word they are only two characters. Contractions are also important for clarification as the shapes of certain letters placed next to others can lead to confusion. A contraction can have a different meaning when used alone, at beginning, ending, or in the middle of a word. These very greatly in local variations. Uncontracted braille is stigmatized as a beginner's text. However, there are practical concerns of uncontracted braille increasing the sheer size of Braille writings which are already many times larger than visual print, for books that are many, many times thicker than visual print, and the significant added time required to read uncontracted braille.

Moon Type is an alternative to Braille which uses embossed simplified Latin script and is thought to be easier to understand for those who have lost their sight after seeing and learning the Latin alphabet.

Braille is considered to complex, lacking clarity, or lacking durability for certain applications. For example, many currencies of the world use tactile features instead of braille.